We Will Always Find Each Other
by snoodlepoodle
Summary: Brenna Dixon wakes up the morning of the outbreak to find her husband is gone. She goes on a journey to find him and meets some very interesting characters. This is my very first FanFic. Rated M for violence, gore, language, sexual conduct and sexual situations.
1. Chapter 1

**We Will Always Find Each Other**

Elizabeth Hall

**Chapter 1**

"We will always find each other." – D.D.

I stared down at the gold locket with these words engraved on it with tears in my eyes. The locket was a gift from my husband. The man who claimed to not be able to live without me, who practically worshipped the ground I walked upon, who would have moved mountains for me. But he was also the man who split as soon as the world turned to shit. I don't know why he left me here to fend for myself, especially when this plague, or whatever it was, ravaged the city but I am going to find out. I'm going to find him and when I do, he's going to pray he was dead. I won't kill him; just make him regret the bailout. He was a hunter and believed his women should be too so he taught me everything I needed to know to survive. When the dead started to rise I didn't hesitate to grab my gun and my knife and do whatever it took to ensure my own survival.

I woke up that morning as usual except I was alone in my own bed. I assumed he was hunting or even visiting his brother. But then I turned on the TV and started seeing the newscasts, the dead were rising and walking among the living. They were calling it a plague, an illness, and it was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. "Where the hell was my husband?" I remember thinking. I had walked to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee, all while never taking my eyes off the TV screen. The pounding on the front door startled me and made me spill my coffee on my shirt. "Dammit!" I muttered and started for the front door. I opened it and there was a man standing n my doorway. He was covered in blood. His teeth were black and his eyes had a milky color to them. He growled and lunged towards me. I instinctively ducked and with one swift motion bashed him in the head with my coffee mug, shattering it into pieces and spilling hot coffee all over the man's face. He staggered backwards and I ran to get my gun which I kept in my nightstand next to my bed. One thing my husband taught me was to always keep it loaded. It had a full clip. I switched the safety off and as I looked up I saw the man coming towards me. I could see the rage in his eyes and I could see the burns on his face from the coffee. I aimed and squeezed my trigger. The gun went off and the bullet tore right through his neck. He didn't go down, so I fired again. That bullet went straight through his heart. His heart! He should be dead! I shot one last time and hit him right between the eyes. He fell like a sack of potatoes. I sat there on my bed hyperventilating. I just killed someone. Or was he already dead and I just killed him again? Doesn't matter, it was in self-defense. He tried to kill me first. I got off the bed and stepped over the dead man. I got dressed and packed a few things. "I need to find him." I thought as I grabbed my gun, my knife and my car keys. That was the last time I ever saw my home. I watched it grow smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror as I drove away.

My name is Brenna Dixon, and I am searching for Daryl Dixon, my husband.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"We will always find each other."

I read the line on the locket out loud. I was having a hard time believing it. I looked around at my surroundings. I didn't know where I was except that I was in the middle of the woods somewhere in Georgia. It had been a month since I had left m home in search of my husband. My car broke down two weeks after that and I had been on my own ever since. For the time being I was shacked up in an abandoned cabin I found a few days ago. Other than having to kill the previous owner turned walkers to lay my claim it was pretty nice. Plenty of game to hunt and I silently thanked Daryl for teaching me how to hunt all those years ago.

After placing my locket around my neck I grabbed my gun and waked outside to check my snares. It was a beautiful day out and as I walked I thought about my husband and wondered where he was. Daryl knew how to take care if himself, I knew that, but I still worried about him every day.

I came across on of my snares, a nice fat rabbit laid inside it. I bent down to pick it up and heard a twig snap behind me. I turned and raised my gun toward the sound. My eyes shifted left to right looking for the source of the sound. I didn't hear anything else other than the sound of birds chirping I the distance. "So I guess I'm hearing things now." I said aloud as I lowered my gun and turned back towards my rabbit. I pulled it out, stuffed it in my bag and reset the snare.

I let my mind wander as I continued my walk to my next snare. Daryl usually was the one to do all of this but I was so thankful for him teaching me to do it myself. I walked for a little way until another sound caught my attention. I raised my gun and scanned the area again. This time I knew I had heard something. This wasn't the sound of a twig snapping, or the sound of a walker growling. This was the sound of a child crying.

I followed the sound until I came to a creek and there curled up inside a cave on the other side was a little girl. My heart stopped when I saw her there, all alone. She looked up and saw me watching her. She started to get up and walk to me when I spotted the walker coming through the bushes. He saw me instead of her thankfully. I holstered my pistol and unsheathed my knife. I calmly walked in the walker's direction and buried the knife in his temple. He fell to the ground with a loud thump. I pulled my knife out of his head and for good measure, stomped on his head, flattening it with my boot.

I pulled out my bandana and wiped the coagulated blood off the blade of my knife. I decided to search his body because I had learned that even though he was a member of the undead he may have had something useful on his person at the time he turned. Turns out all he had was a pack of cigarettes, which I pocketed but not before putting one in my mouth and lighting it.

I looked back over to the little girl who was still cowering in the cave. Horror and tears where in her eyes as I walked her way and extended my hand.

"My name is Brenna," I started, "I won't hurt you. Why are you out here alone?"

The girl took my hand slowly and stepped out if the cave. She was filthy and soaked from being in the creek. Her shoulder length blonde hair was dirty and matted. She had blood splattered on the front of her blouse but I didn't see any visible bites or scratches.

"I have to go back!" She cried. "My mom is looking for me. We were on the highway when we go stuck in traffic. We started searching the abandoned cars for supplies when a herd of walkers came up on us."

"How many?" I interrupted.

"Dozens." She replied. "Some of us hid under the cars t one of the walkers saw my foot and went after me. I ran and Rick ran after me."

"Rick?"

"The leader of my group. He ran after to save me. We ended up over here; he sat me down and told me he would be right back. I think he's dead. He never came back and I've been here since yesterday afternoon." She started to shiver so I placed my arm around her shoulder.

"Were you bit or scratched?" I asked, praying her answer would be no.

She shook her head. "Just a bruise." She replied

I stood up and looked around. I drew off the cigarette, threw it on the ground and rubbed my eyes. What the hell was I going to do with this little girl? I couldn't leave her here alone and I couldn't take care of her. The only logical thing to do would be to get her back to her group. Maybe I could join their group? Safety in numbers, right? Maybe, just maybe, one of them knew Daryl.

"What's your name, hun?" I asked her.

"Sophia." She sniffed and started to cry. "I just want my mom."

"Okay." I said hugging her tightly. "I'll help you find your group but I need to do something first. I have a cabin not far from here. I need to get some things before we go. Can you walk?" She nodded her head yes and took my hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

We reached the cabin right as the sun was directly above us. It was extremely hot that day which meant (as I had noticed early on) that the walkers would be easier to detect from smell alone. As we walked in Sophia collapsed on the floor. I ran over to her and realized she was exhausted. I grabbed her some water and lifted her head so she could take the small sips I was allowing her. I toyed with the notion of just staying here the night and heading for the highway in the morning but eventually convinced myself otherwise.

I stood up and began gathering my belongings and putting them in my bag. Sophia sat on the floor, fanning herself with an old magazine.

"What's your story?" She asked me hoarsely.

"My story isn't that interesting." I told her. Seeing the look of disappointment on her face made me begin to elaborate. "I'm looking for my husband. He disappeared the morning of the outbreak."

"How do you know he's still alive?" She asked me.

"Oh, I know." I replied. I zipped up my bag and threw it over my shoulder. "Ready to find your momma?"

"Ready to find you husband?"

"Let's go." I said, smiling for the first time in months.

We walked for some time in silence, me leading the way and Sophia not far behind. She tried on several occasions to speak but I shushed her every time, preferring the silence and my own thoughts to keep me company. We came across a walker trapped in the mud. He tried frantically to free himself once he saw us but his efforts only made him become more stuck.,

We stopped and watched him for a while and then I asked, "Ever kill one?" "No." she replied, "before today I had only been up close to one. One who use to be my dad. My mom took care of it." I unsheathed my knife and handed it to her. I led her behind the walker and pointed to its temple.

"Of course you know it has to be the brain." I stated.

Her eyes widened as she said, "You-you want me to do it?"

"Gonna have to do it someday. Why not now?"

She took a deep breath and plunged the knife into the walker's head and quickly retracted it. She had a smile on her face as she watched the walker slump backwards, staring upward with its mouth hanging open. She looked at me for approval, and all she saw was me with my mouth hanging wide open just like her last kill. "WOW!" I gasped. "That was amazing. You definitely have some killer in you."

I took the knife from her and wiped it clean. Then I slapped her on the back and said, "We got people to find."

We walked the rest of the way mindlessly chatting. I realized I enjoyed her company. It had been so long since I had any form of conversation and it was nice now, even if my conversation partner was a little girl. This kid was smart, smarter that I had imagined.

Occasionally we had to stop our conversation to fight a walker or two. I would knock them down and Sophia would administer the death blow just like I taught her. It seemed to be getting easier for her, especially after the first one. She really was a natural.

Eventually we came up on n the highway and I felt a little relief once my feet were planted firmly on hard pavement. There were cars everywhere and it was really hard to see ahead of us. "Does anything look familiar?" I asked her, scanning my surroundings for any sign of movement.

"Yeah, we're close." She replied and started walking ahead of me. About a mile later we finally saw some people. Sophia started running towards them. I ran after her, not just to keep up, but also to try to keep her safe. An older woman with short graying hair spotted us.

"Sophia?!" She yelled and started running our way.

"MOM!" Sophia yelled back.

They greeted each other and Sophia's mom dropped to her knees and embraced her daughter. Laughter and tears filled the air as the rest of the group ran over to investigate.

"Oh, baby. I knew I'd find you again." Her mother sobbed into Sophia's hair. I could sense everyone's relief as they one by one realized that little Sophia was alive and well.

Then their attention turned towards me. I was so lost in the tender reunion that I didn't notice one person was a cop (or at least dressed like one) and he had his pistol pointed right at my head.

My hands instinctively went up to show surrender. "I mean no harm." I began.

He stepped closer to me, gun stull pointed at my face. "Who are you and what were you doing with her?" He asked me sternly. "You'll never make any friends if you keep threatening them like this." I joked and laughed nervously.

He cocked his gun. "On your knees." I dropped to my knees and he came over and searched me. He took my gun, my knife and my backpack. Then slapped handcuffs on me.

"Look," I started, "I understand you have to be cautious around new people now a days but I assure you –"

"Five seconds." He interrupted, gun still aimed at my face.

"This isn't necessary." I said

"Five!"

"I'm looking for someone."

"Four!"

"I won't hurt you."

"Three!"

"What the Hell man?!"

"Two!"

"You're making a big mistake!"

"One!"

"Brenna!"

Everyone turned away from me and towards the sound of the man that said my name. "Daryl!" I started to stand but the gun pointed at my head suggested I do otherwise.

"Daryl," The cop said, "You know her?"

"Yeah," Daryl said, "She's my wife."

The cop dropped his gun and I ran into Daryl's arms. He wrapped himself around me and even though I tried to stop it, the tears overflowed my eyes and streamed down my face. "You're alive." He said holding my face in his hands and looking into my eyes. He bent down and kissed me and for a split second nothing but he and I existed in the world.

He turned his attention away from me and back towards the group. "Drop it Shane, she's okay." The cop holstered his gun and walked over. He uncuffed me, handed me my backpack and said, "I apologize. We have to be careful."

"My knife and gun?" I asked.

"When you earn our trust, you'll get them back."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yelled at him. "If you would have stopped treating me like a criminal and let me explain why I was with Sophia you would have your reason to trust me."

"I'm sorry." He said and walked away.

I stared at Daryl and suddenly I didn't care that I was just robbed of my weapons. My husband was here, that's all I cared about. Sophia and her mom came over to us. "This is Brenna." Sophia said. "Carol." The woman said and hugged me tightly. "Thank you so much for bringing my baby back safely." Carol walked away with tears in her eyes holding Sophia's hand.

"You'll get your shit back soon." Daryl told me. "I don't even care anymore." I said as I reached up and kissed him. He broke the kiss, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "We need to make up for lost time." He said and walked me away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"I thought you were dead." Daryl said as he gently stroked my hair. We had found an abandoned station wagon, added a few blankets in the back and called it home for the night. I sighed and continued to rest my head on his chest. It felt so good to feel him hold me again. "Why?" I asked. "If you had been home that morning you would have known I was alive." I looked up at him. "Where were you?"

"Woke up early to go huntin'. Didn't make it very far 'fore I started seein' people eatin' people and not in the good way." He snickered. "I started home to get you and ran into Merle. Said he was just at our place and you were gone."

"Merle? He was never there. So you just assumed I was dead?" I shook my head and laughed. "You know me better than that." We laid in silence for a while. I was mesmerized by the sound of his heartbeat and entranced by him playing with my hair. For a second I almost forgot that the word was ending.

"Where is he?" I finally asked.

"Who?"

"Merle."

Daryl drew in a deep breath and I felt him tense up. I sat up to look at him wide eyed. "Is he?" I asked. "Yeah, in Atlanta." He replied. "Daryl I am so sorry." I hugged him tightly trying to comfort him. "'s okay. I'm fine. Merle never played well with others. He practically did it to himself."

I knew if I kept pressing the issue with him he would have shut down on me completely. So I never mentioned it again. "Come here." He held out his arms and I laid back down and felt my body melt into his. "I'm so glad I found you." I said. "Me too, darlin'." He replied as he started to stroke my hair again.

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

He started absentmindedly humming to himself. That's when I fell asleep and it was the best night sleep I had had in a month.

I awoke the next morning to the sounds of screaming. Daryl was already gone so I hurriedly put my clothes on and ran out to see what was going on. I found Carol, hysterical, crying about Sophia.

"Brenna!" She cried. "She's gone again. My baby is gone."

"Are you sure? When did you see her last?" I started looking around at everybody. They all had a look of confusion on their faced. "She was here last night. She was upset that she lost her doll in the woods." Carol said between sobs. "You don't think she would have went after it alone do you?" Asked Andrea. "She was terrified of everything. There's no way." Added Lori.

"Not anymore." I started. "Those few hours I was alone with her she proved to me that she had bigger balls than any of us." I checked the clip of my gun (which thankfully Shane had given back, along with my knife, the night before) and holstered it.

"If she did go alone, she's stupid." I looked over at Carol. "But she will be found."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I found Daryl looking over a map with Rick, Shane and Glenn. I placed my hand on his back as I studied it with them. "Did she have her doll with her when you found her yesterday?" Rick asked me. "No." I replied. "Bren, show us where your cabin was." Daryl stepped to the side so I could see better. "Here." I pointed it out. "Roughly five miles away." Glenn added. "Give or take a few." Shane said. "Well what the Hell are we waitin' for?" Daryl asked already strapping his crossbow to his back.

They started to walk away from me. "I want to help." I said. Daryl came to me. "Next time." He said. "You help Dale and Andrea keep watch." Rick ordered. "Seriously?" I looked up at Daryl. He had an apologetic look on his face. "Be careful." I said before I turned around to walk away.

He grabbed my arm, spinning me around to face him and pulled me tightly to his chest. He reached up and pulled my hair, forcing my face to look up at his. And then he kissed me. It was a rough kiss. I could feel his facial hair on my face as our tongues danced in our mouths. I reached up and grabbed both sides of his face and pulled away from him. "I'm always careful." He said, letting go of my hair. Then he turned and walked away from me.

I watched him walk away and disappear into the woods. My body still full of tingles from the kiss. Oh, that man is in some serious trouble when he gets back, I thought. I turned on my heels and walked back over to the RV.

T-Dog was sitting on the ground eyeballing me as I was up on him. He was holding his arm tightly to his chest. I could see bloody bandages around it. "What happened?" I asked. "Cut it during the herd the other day." He replied. "May I?" I asked, extending my hand. He removed the bandage and revealed a very infected cut.

"This needs stitches. You're gonna lose this arm if the infection gets bad enough. Anti-biotics?" I asked. He shook his head no. "What are you, a doctor?" He asked. "Nurse." I replied. "Stay here." I walked over to Merle's motorcycle and unzipped the side bag. Of course my pill headed ex-brother in law had some good pain killers and a few anti-biotics left over from when he had the clap. I swiped them, found a clean t-shirt and a bottle of water and walked back to T-Dog.

"Dale?" I called out.

"Yeah?" Dale poked his head out of the RV.

"Got any liquor?"

"Not much of a drinker." He replied.

"Sterilization, Dale, not for consumption." I said back.

"Here." Andrea handed me a bottle of vodka.

"Shot later?" I jokingly asked and twisted the lid off and poured some over T-Dog's wound. He winced at the pain and I rolled my eyes. "If this is the most pain you've felt so far, you're getting off easy." I said. I took a shot of the vodka, waiting for T-Dog to relax.

"Here," I handed him the pills and the water. He looked at them and then to me. "Merle had the clap once. I assure you, they're safe. He won't be needing them anymore." T-Dog popped the pills in his mouth and took a drink of water. "What do you know about that racist redneck?" He asked me as I started to re-dress his wound.

"Well, I married his brother so that made him my brother in law. I never had nice things to say about that man and he never had nice things to say about me. We didn't get along with each other for nothin'. But I tolerated his ass for Daryl. I tolerated a lot." I stopped talking and started concentrating on dressing the wound. "Better?" I asked him as I sat down next to him.

"Yeah, thanks." He replied. I passed the bottle to him and he took a shot.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The sun was starting to set and I was starting to get very antsy. The search party, which included my husband, a Korean, and two ex-cops (one of which tried to execute me) still hadn't come back yet. I paced back and forth on top of the RV which belonged to Dale. "Nervous?" he asked me. "What do you think?" I shot back. I didn't mean to sound so hateful towards him but I was getting pretty worried. Either they found her or they didn't. They didn't need to spend all this time out there.

I climbed down off the RV and started to walk towards the old station wagon Daryl and I were sharing as a bedroom. I grabbed my gun and some of my traps and put them in my bag. "Where are you going?" It was Lori that asked this question and I rolled my eyes before turning around to face her.

"Hunting. We gotta eat don't we?"

"Rick specifically told us to stay here. We don't need any more people just wandering off."

"Rick aint back yet. And last I checked the only man that was allowed to order me around is my husband, and that's only in the bedroom. If Daryl were here he'd itching to get out in those woods and hunt up some food."

"Fine. Do what you want." Lori threw her hands up in the air and walked back over to where Carl, Andrea and Carol were sitting. As I strapped the bag across my back Carol walked over to me. "I wanna thank you again," she started, tears welling up in her eyes. "You found her once, you can do it again."

"I found her by chance, Carol, but I will keep an eye out for her while I'm out there. We're gonna find her." I started to walk away but turned around and said, "How well can you defend yourself?" "Fairly well, with a knife." She responded. "C'mon, you're coming with me. Get whatever you need, come back in five."

Carol hesitated for a moment then walked away to get her things. I stood there pacing, thinking about what the hell I was doing. Is it a good idea to take her along? Would she handicap me? I surely hope not, but it was worth a shot. Even if she couldn't I was skilled enough with my gun, and my survival instincts, to ensure both of our survival. I just didn't understand why Sophia took off. She was a stupid little girl, but she could be taught differently.

Finally Carol joined me and we started towards the woods.

"Thank you." She said.

"I haven't done anything yet, Carol and you already thanked me for finding your girl the last time. So, what are you thanking me for?"

"Just being here. You're gonna give us a fresh hope for the future. You're a badass."

"Pssh, you barely know me. I wasn't always like this, I'm a by-product of Daryl Dixon." I raised my gun up and shot a squirrel. It fell from the tree and landed with a thud at our feet. We smiled at each other as I bent down to pick it up.

"Ed never taught me anything. He wasn't half the man Daryl is." Carol said.

"Wasn't?" I asked.

"Walker got him when we were camped at the quarry."

I remembered the story Sophia told me when we first met. I remembered how she told me that her mom finished him off. I shuddered thinking about it. Ed, supposedly, was very abusive towards Carol and Sophia. In my opinion, becoming walker dinner wasn't a good enough ending for a man like that. I was so lucky to have Daryl. He treated me like a queen and I loved him for it. I felt bad for Carol, but Ed wasn't her problem anymore. She was free.

"She tell you she killed a few that day?" I asked

"Sophia did?"

"Yes ma'am. I showed her how. Showed her how to hold the knife, where to hit them. Even showed her a little tracking skills along the way. Do you have any idea why she would have taken off this time? Did she say anything to you?"

"No." Carol answered.

We kept walking a little further in silence. I set a few traps and shot a few more squirrels. I was about to suggest that we head back when I heard a scream. Carol and I both turned in the direction of the sound and took off running towards it.

"Sophia?!" I yelled as I came to the top of a hill. Looking over I could see the little girl completely surrounded by walkers. I took off down the hill with Carol right behind me. I raised my gun and shot one right between the eyes. Carol took one out with her knife. Sophia got her bearings back and took out another with her knife as well.

One walker grabbed me and pushed me down on my back. My gun went flying through the air and landed with a thud ten feet away from where I was laying. The walker was snarling and biting at the air trying to get to my neck. I tried to push it off me but it was way too strong. Sophia and Carol were both busy dealing with their own attackers.

Right as I was about to give up and become walker food I heard a loud bang and it's head exploded. It slumped down on top of me, dripping blood all over my body. I laid there, panting, not sure what to do. Where did that sound come from? I was so discombobulated, I'm surprised I even knew where I was. Carol and Sophia finished off the last bit of the walkers and came to me. I pushed the walker off of me, stood up and looked around.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, frantically.

"Up here!"

We glanced back up the hill and there stood Rick, Shane, Glenn and Daryl. "Hey, you found her." Glenn said excitedly. They started down the hill. Daryl was the first to reach me. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. "You alright?" He asked. "'m fine." I responded, burying my head in his chest. I pulled away from him and looked at the others. "Who shot it?"

"I did." Said Shane.

"First you try to kill me. Then you save my life. Make up your mind, pig." I laughed then extended my hand. Shane took it and shook it. "Thank you."

"Welcome."

"What are you doing out here?" Daryl asked me angrily. "Hunting." I replied. "Got tired of sittin on my ass on top of that damn camper. Decided to make myself useful. You know me Daryl, I can't sit around doin' nothin' if I know I can contribute to help. I'm perfectly fine. Got a few squirrels." I held open my bag to show him my loot. Daryl sighed and leaned in closer to me. "I ain't gonna lose you. Not again, Brenna. You mean too much to me." He whispered to me and then planted a kiss on my forehead. That meant the argument was over and I should drop it, in which I did.

"Sophia, why did you run off?" Carol asked her daughter as she kneeled down and took her shoulders in both hands. "You could have been killed. We all could have been killed looking for you. I want an explanation right now." Sophia looked at her mother with empty eyes. Her expression was like a statue, the girl didn't move a muscle as she said, "I was practicing."

"Practicing?!" we all exclaimed at once. Sophia looked in our direction and focused her attention on me. "I was practicing what Brenna taught me." They were all looking at me now. "What did you teach her?" Rick asked me. "I taught her how to set a few traps and how to use a knife. She killed a few walkers here and there on our way back to you guys the other day. How was I supposed to know she was gonna go rogue?" I stared at Sophia in disbelief. I couldn't believe this little brat threw me under the bus like that. I glanced over at Carol who thankfully had a look of understanding on her face. If I got mom's approval, I should be golden, I thought to myself.

"Guys, it's getting late. We need to head back before it gets too dark out here." Glenn warned. "Right," Rick said. "Let's head out and cook those squirrels Mrs. Dixon hunted." We all turned to walk back up the hill and back towards the highway when Carol screamed. Whipping around we all saw the walker come out of nowhere and latch onto her neck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"NO!" Sophia screamed. In an instant the walker was on the ground with one of Daryl's arrows right between the eyes. Carol collapsed and I rushed over to her. The wound on her neck was bleeding heavily. "Give me something!" I yelled. Daryl took off his shirt and handed it to me. I placed it on her neck and applied as much pressure as I could. Sophia was screaming and sobbing hysterically, everything was so loud, I was having a hard time concentrating.

"Glenn, get her the hell out of here now!" I yelled at him. He rushed over and pulled her away.

I could see the color draining out of Carol's face. Her eyes were wide and frantic. Despite everything happening to her, she was very calm. "Sophia." She said, hoarsely. "Shh. Don't talk. You're gonna be fine." I said back to her, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of my shirt. "Don't lie to me. I've been bit. I'm dead already." She coughed, spewing blood all over herself and me. "Bring her to me." She whispered.

Sophia walked over to her, tears streaming down her cheeks. She knelt beside her mom. "I'm so sorry mommy. I didn't know this would happen." Carol placed her hand on Sophia's cheek and said, "I know baby, it's okay. Remember, I'll love you forever. Come here." Sophia bent down and Carol whispered something into her ear. Sophia sat up and shook her head yes. They both smiled at each other.

I clutched onto Daryl's arm. I was so scared and so very sad. I liked Carol and I hated the fact that there was nothing I could do to save her. And poor Sophia, she was an orphan now. Will this little girl be able to survive?

We all stood and watched as Carol's labored breathing became shallower and shallower and then finally she took her last breath. Sophia let out a horrific groan as she slowly realized that her mother was gone. We looked at each other, none of us really sure what to do. Rick started to walk towards them when Sophia took out her knife and buried it in Carol's head.

With a sigh, Sophia stood up, wiped her face and started walking back toward the highway and the rest of our people. "Follow her." Shane told Glenn and he took off after her. "Me and Bren will head back and I'll get some shovels. I'll bring 'em to ya if you want." Daryl looked at Rick. Rick seemed to be at a loss for words. All of us was really. What did we just witness anyways? "Yeah, yeah that's fine." Rick said as he sat down against a tree. Shane followed suit and added, "Might wanna hurry though. It's already dark."

Daryl and I started walking, neither of us talking to the other. I was crying, but softly enough to where Daryl couldn't hear me. Halfway back I finally broke the silence. "It was my fault ya know."

"How you figure?" Daryl stopped walking and turned to face me.

"I told Carol to come with me. I was just going to go hunting, I had no intentions on looking for that girl. That's what you guys were doing. But Carol started talking to me about Sophia and I thought it would be good that if we did happen to find her, her mother would be one of the first people she would see."

"Your heart was in the right place, but your brain is in outer space. This ain't your fault, Bren. Carol didn't have to come just because you asked her to. She made that choice on her own. The person who really shouldn't be able to live with herself is her daughter. If Sophia hadn't had gone missing a second time, none of this shit would have happened. In no way, shape or form is ANY of this your fault and I don't want you blaming yourself for any of it, okay?"

I stared at my husband for what seemed like an eternity before I said anything back to him. "Okay." Was all I could manage to spit out. We kept walking for a while longer and then finally got back to the highway and the string of cars we were camped at. Daryl got the shovels and before he took off again he embraced me in a bear hug so tight I thought I would have exploded.

"No matter what Brenna. We will always find each other." He stepped back and gave me a kiss. This time it was a passionate kiss. The kind of kiss you see at the end of those Disney movies with the Princesses. I didn't want him to go, but I knew deep down that it didn't matter what I wanted anymore. Daryl Dixon was gonna do whatever the hell Daryl Dixon wanted to do and that attitude alone was enough to make me love him even more than I ever did. "Right, we always will. I love you." I said back to him. "Don't wait up. Get some sleep. We're probably heading out tomorrow."

I walked back to the station wagon, making sure to avoid everyone else. I really didn't want to talk about what had just happened and I was pretty sure Glenn would have spilled the beans by now. All I wanted to do was sleep and pray that all of this was a big nightmare.

I laid in the vehicle for the longest time, my mind racing, going a mile a minute. I tried to wait up for Daryl to come back but I knew that would be near impossible. Even though I was having trouble falling asleep, I knew I was fall asleep eventually.

We will always find each other…

We will always find each other…

We will always find each other…

I kept repeating that over and over in my head until finally I fell into a restless sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

We took off early the next morning. I rode on the back of Merle's motorcycle with Daryl. It felt great to have the wind in my face and to feel my hair blow back. But our surroundings were anything but lovely. Everywhere I looked I saw nothing but death, including the faces of my travel companions. Carol's death did nothing but remind us that our time is limited and we shouldn't waste it. Poor Sophia had barely said a word since her mother died. She mostly kept to herself, she wouldn't even talk to Carl. I tried on several occasions to get her to open up about everything but she did nothing but shut me out. "Everyone grieves in their own way." Lori had said to me one night. I just shrugged and walked away.

Once again we had camped on the highway for the night. The vehicles needed gas and we needed supplies. I helped Shane cipher gas out of a few cars. We worked in silence until he finally broke the peace. "No one blames you." He said, looking away from his gas can and right at me. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him. "You can stand there and put up that bad ass front for everybody, but I know you believe that everything was your fault. I'm telling you it wasn't." He turned his attention back to his work.

"Everyone keeps saying that," I finally said to him, "but I don't know if I believe it."

"It's the god's honest truth. That could have been any of us out there. You found that little girl not once, but twice. Carol was thankful for that. Hell, we all were. Don't be so hard on yourself. You can't save everyone."

"I can't save everyone? I never thought I could! You don't know me, Shane. You don't know how my life was before all this shit happened. You don't know my past. How can you say anything like that about me?"

Shane stood up and looked me in the eyes. His eyes were so fierce and piercing that I couldn't escape his gaze. I felt frozen, I couldn't move away even if I tried. Finally he spoke. "You came into this group as a stranger, much like the rest of us. But you took over responsibilities that indicated that you were family. You have shown nothing but compassion and trust since you arrived. You're good people, Brenna. Just like Daryl."

With that he put the cap back on his gas can and added, "I really am sorry for how I treated you when we first met." Then he walked away.

I didn't know how to take any of that. All I wanted to do was scream and cry and just run away. I didn't ask for any of this, nor would I have ever, but this is how the world is now apparently. It's all one big cruel joke. I sat down and leaned up against a car. My head hurt and I was hungry but there was nothing I could do about any of that. Finally I laid my head in my hands and started to cry.

I didn't cry because I was sad. I was tired. Physically and emotionally. I didn't understand why things were turning out the way there were and that infuriated me. I wondered how much left I had in me. Would I be able to ride this thing out till the end? Will there ever be an end? Are these people my family now? So many questions but none of them are going to ever be answered.

I felt someone sit down next to me. I uncovered my face and saw Sophia sitting, starting at me. "Sophia, you scared me." I said, wiping my face with the sleeve of my shirt. "What are you doing?"

"I came to talk to you." She said. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry I took off again. I wanted to kill more walkers, just like you showed me. But after a while, I got overrun. Everywhere I looked I was surrounded by them. That's when you and mom showed up. And then when she got bit…" Her words trailed off. She wiped her face and tried to continue. "She got bit…and…and it's all my fault!" Sophia started sobbing uncontrollably. I reached over and grabbed her. I held her tightly against my chest. I could feel her shaking. "Shhh…it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault. Unfortunately these things happen and no one blames you." I stroked her hair and waited for her to stop crying.

We sat there for what seemed like forever before we finally got up to go to bed. I made sure she got to her sleeping bag safely and then I went looking for Daryl.

I found him cleaning his arrows by the RV. "Where are we sleeping tonight?" I asked as I walked up to him. "Don't know yet." He replied. "Where've you been?"

"Consoling Sophia. She thinks all of this is her fault."

"In a way it kinda is."

"Daryl, you can't say that. She's just a little girl."

"Well, Bren it's the truth. Little brat shoulda just stayed put. Her momma would still be here if it weren't for that."

I stared at my husband in disbelief. I couldn't believe how cold he was being, and towards a child none the less. I shook my head and folded my arms across my chest. "Where is everyone?" I asked him. "Rick and Shane took Carl to get supplies. Don't know where Andrea, Lori or Glenn are at. Everyone else is in the RV."

"Why didn't you go with them?" I asked him.

"Just felt like stayin' back."

"Hmm…" I stared at my feet for a little bit while he continued to clean his arrows. I kicked a rock and watched it fly through the air and land on the top of an old car. It made a loud bang that made him jump. I giggled at him. "Not funny, I'm gun shy." He said laughing as well.

"Daryl?"

"Yeah."

"Where were you really that morning?"

"Told you I went hunting."

"Don't lie to me."

"What are you talking about Brenna? I aint lyin to ya. I woke up and went hunting. What do I have to hide?"

"I'm not stupid," I said as I looked at him. I had known that Daryl had been cheating on me for a few weeks. I just never got the courage to confront him about it. Now seemed like the best time to do it with the world ending and all. "I know all about that blonde that runs that redneck bar you're always raisin' hell at."

Daryl put his arrows down and leaned in towards me. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Don't believe me?" He asked. "What do you think?" I responded. Then he slapped me. Right across the face. My left cheek felt like it was on fire. I brought my hand to my face instinctively and looked at him. My mouth was hanging wide open from the shock of being struck. He's never done this before. And I'm gonna make sure he will never do it again.

I drew back and punched Daryl right in the mouth, busting his lip and bloodying his nose. "Jesus Christ, Brenna!" He exclaimed as he pulled his hand away from his mouth and spitting out blood. "You ever touch me like that again, I swear to God I'll break more than just your nose. That's a promise." I warned him and then stormed off.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I ended up bunking in the RV with Dale. I have no idea where Daryl slept, nor did I care. Who does he think he is? He's never hit me before so all of this was a complete shock to me. Hopefully my punch back knocked some sense into his brain. "Brenna, you awake?" Dale called from the front of the RV. I sat up and walked up front and sat down next to him. T-Dog was still sleeping. "How's his arm?" I asked Dale. "He says it's good. Whatever you gave him was pretty strong. Knocks him out real good." Dale chuckled at himself.

"What happened to you?" I assumed he was referring to my face. I turned my head away from him, trying to avoid his stare. "Got in a little fight, that's all." I said. "The other person looks worse than I do." I did my best to smile at him and my efforts paid off. Dale let out a hearty chuckle and slapped me on the back. "You're something all right." He said. "Yeah, I sure am." I replied.

We heard rustling in the back and we both looked to see what it was. T-Dog had finally awoken and was walking towards us. "How you feelin'?" I asked him. "Better. Doesn't hurt as much." He replied. I held out my hand and put his arm in it. I undressed his wound and examined it. It did look significantly better and I was happy about that. "Well, I got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" I asked him. "Does it matter?" He responded, looking at his arm.

"No, not really." I smiled at him. "The good news is, you can keep your arm. The infection is going down and it looks a lot better than it did." I noticed a look of relief on his face as I said that to him. "What's the bad news?" He asked. "The bad news is you're gonna have a hell of a scar. But fortunately for you, the ladies love scars. I wouldn't be surprised if one day your grandbabies will ask you how it happened." T-Dog laughed at me. "I aint worried 'bout no scars but I seriously doubt I'm gonna have grandbabies in my future." He sat back down at the little table. "You never know." I said. "I'm going to try to get some food. Be back shortly. Oh, Dale?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"If my husband asks where I went, don't tell him will ya?"

"Sure thing. Be careful."

I gathered my traps, my gun and my knife and headed out the door.

I started walking, making sure to take note of my surroundings so I wouldn't get lost on the way back. I stepped cautiously as not to attract attention to myself. I set a few traps here and there and even shot a rabbit and a few squirrels. I wasn't impressed with my hunt, but it was all better than nothing. This stuff should cook up pretty nicely.

I was only gone for an hour or so before I decided to head back. My mind kept drifting to Daryl. How long was I going to keep up not talking to him? I'm not mad at him, even though I feel like I should be. I loved him too much to ever hate him. The weird thing was, I forgave him for everything. But he has yet to show that he is sorry to me. I know my husband well, he isn't one to show his emotions. So I seriously doubted he would ever do anything out of the ordinary to gain my trust and love back.

I made it back to the highway right as Andrea and Glenn were packing up to leave. "What's going on?" I asked. I looked around and didn't see Rick, Shane, Lori or Carl anywhere. "I don't know, some girl on a horse took Lori and told me and Andrea to get you guys and come to a farm." Glenn explained. "What?" I wondered and started looking around. "Sophia, ride in the RV with everyone else." I called out to her. "Andrea, where's Daryl?"

"Not sure, he's here though. The bike hasn't moved."

"Good God." I muttered under my breath and ran over to the motorcycle. Sure enough, Daryl's crossbow and his other gear were gone. In fact, it appeared he hadn't been here since the night before. "Now is NOT the time to be a brat, Daryl Dixon!" I yelled out.

I proceeded to pack my stuff and store everything in my back pack. I strapped it to my back and walked back over to the RV. "I don't know where Daryl is." I said.

"I'm right here."

I swung around and there he stood. "What's going on?"

Glenn explained everything to Daryl just as he had explained it to me and before I knew it, I was perched on the back of the motorcycle with Daryl and we were following the RV to some unknown farm. I was terrified. I didn't know what to expect. I was more terrified to confront Daryl about the previous evening's events. I had no doubt in my mind that he had been up all night thinking. That scared me the most.

After about 15 minutes we arrived at the farm. The place was huge and I was pretty nervous as we pulled up. We hadn't been able to roam in such a wide open space in quite a while. I wasn't quite sure how to handle all this extra freedom. I got off the back of the bike and started to walk towards the house with everyone else. Daryl reached out and grabbed me by the wrist and spun me around to face him. "Talk to ya?" He asked me, a somber look on his face.

"Not now." I responded and jerked my hand out of his grasp. I turned on my heels and walked away, leaving him alone on his brother's motorcycle. I reached the front porch of the house just as everyone else did. Rick was standing there, looking pale and very worried. "What's going on?" Andrea asked concerned.

"There was an accident. Carl was shot." He responded.

"What?" Everyone exclaimed. Everyone started talking all at once and asking a million questions.

"He's fine, he's asleep right now. I've been giving him blood. Lori is in there with him now. Hershel did as much as he could."

"Who's Hershel?" Dale asked.

"That would be me." An older man with short white hair stepped out onto the porch.

"You a doctor or something?" I asked him. "Veterinarian." He responded as he took a seat on the porch chair to his right. "Even better." I said under my breath.

"How did all this happen?" Glenn asked.

"Otis was hunting. He shot at a deer, the bullet went through the deer and into Carl. It broke off into several pieces but I got most of 'em out. Otis and your guy Shane went to get me more medical supplies."

I walked away from the group to collect my thoughts. I found Sophia sitting alone by the RV. "You alright?" I asked her. "Yeah, I'm okay. Is Carl okay?" She asked. "Hopefully he will be." I scanned my surroundings. It was a beautiful day and the farm was incredibly quiet. I didn't see any sign of my husband anywhere. I decided that enough was enough and I needed to hear what he had to say. "I'm going to go find Daryl. Need anything?" I asked. "Nope, I'm okay." She responded and I walked away to find my husband and face what I had been dreading.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It wasn't long before I found Daryl sitting underneath a weeping willow tree. I walked over and sat down next to him. "Remember when we first me?" He asked me, looking at the ground. "Uh-huh. Underneath a willow tree. Kinda like this one." I answered as I folded my arms across my chest. I was wondering where he was going with this. "You were beautiful that day, and every day afterwards. You were wearin' this really cute white dress. Ya know, the kind that don't have no sleeves on it. Your hair was all done up in some kinda braid but you had little pieces of it falling all around your face." He sniffed. Was he crying?

"I knew as soon as I saw that brown haired girl in the white dress that she was going to be my wife one day." He chuckled. "Look at us now."

"Yeah, look at us now." I said. "Two 'badasses' killing the walking dead…again."

He ignored my bad joke and continued. "I never wanted to hurt you. I only wanted to make you feel as good as you made me. I believe you deserve an explanation for my bad behavior and I'm gonna give you one. But promise me you'll forgive me." He finally looked me in the eyes and I could tell he had been crying. His eyes, which were normally a bright blue, were red and puffy. He still had a cut over his nose and his lip was still a little swollen from the punch I gave him the night before.

"I can't promise forgiveness until I know what you need to be forgiven for, Daryl."

"Just listen, okay?"

"That I can do." I watched his face carefully as he began to talk.

"I was with her the night before the outbreak. But it all aint what you think. I ended it with her that night. I couldn't take the sneaking around and the lying anymore. She was no good to me, not like you ever were. She wasn't happy 'bout it though. She pitched a shit-fit. We argued the entire night. Finally I gave up and walked out on her, got the front door shut right before she threw a lamp at it. After that I went on my way. Got in my truck and took off. Stopped at Merle's, but he wasn't there so I decided to go home. Got half way there and saw Merle on the side of the road flaggin' me down. He said he got attacked by a few crazy people and he went to our place lookin' for me. Said there wasn't anyone home and that I should take off with him. My gut told me that I should have just came home to look for you myself but I didn't listen to it. So we left. I never meant to hurt you, Brenna and if I had known you were there alone I would have been there in a heartbeat. I love you so much that it hurts sometimes and there is nothing I won't do to make sure you are safe and sound."

I listened to all of this very carefully and waited for him to finish. Then I said, "You love me so much it hurts? Why'd you hit me?"

He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "The only answer I have is 'I don't know'." He answered. "Something inside me just snapped. I was at my breaking point. There is just so much going on. Carol dying made me think about what I would do if I were to ever lose you in that way. It was too much. Then you come over and start interrogating me about every little thing-'

"You're not getting away with blaming this on me." I said loudly, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"I'm not." He said. "I'm trying to make this okay. Everything is my fault. Look at your face. Look what I've done to you." I brought my hand up to my face and winced at the pain. "I will never ever strike you again and if I do, you have every right to make me walker food." He said, taking my hand into his.

I looked down at our hands, our fingers intertwined with each other. His hand was so rough and a lot bigger than mine. How could I forgive him? I asked myself. He certainly seems like he is sorry. I reached up with my right hand and placed it on his cheek and pulled myself in for a kiss. He eagerly kissed me back as he brought his own hand up to the back of my head and grabbed a handful of my hair. He tugged lightly and I broke the kiss.

"Can you ever forgive me?" He whispered to me.

I sat there looking at him. Daryl Dixon, practically begging my forgiveness like a little puppy. I wondered if all of this had changed him. "It was yellow." I said to him, with a smile on my face. Daryl looked confused so I continued. "My dress. It wasn't white, it was yellow." He laughed and kissed me again. He broke away and started kissing my neck, nibbling a little as he went along. I giggled and laughed. It felt so good to laugh.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The days turned to weeks and the weather got hotter and hotter. We were still at the farm, which had clean water wells, so finding fresh water was never a problem. Neither was food because Hershel was a farmer. Fresh vegetables were always on the menu and I don't think anyone had a problem with that. The only problem was Hershel. He had told Rick that we could only stay temporarily but Rick felt like this would be the best place for us to settle down for a while. I agreed. I was tired of being on the move constantly and it was such a great feeling to be someplace peaceful for a while.

The night we arrived we were told that a man named Otis had accidentally shot Carl and that he and Shane had went somewhere to find more medical supplies for Hershel. Thankfully Carl lived but Shane was the only one to return from the run he and Otis made. I felt really bad for the family, having just suffered a major loss, so I tried to do as much as I could to help out where ever I could.

"I'm goin' huntin'." Daryl said to me one morning. We had just woken up and I was barely conscious as he was talking to me. "Want me to come with?" I asked as I opened my eyes and glanced in his direction. He was already dressed and had his crossbow on his back, ready to walk out. "Nah, you get more rest. You're gonna need it after the night we had." He smiled at me. Thinking back to the night before I realized that, yeah, I did need the extra rest. "You're right," I said. "Be careful. I love you." He bent down and kissed me on the forehead. "Of course. Love you too." He said and walked out of the tent.

I laid my head back down and sighed. Daryl had already woke me up, the sun was out, and there was no way I was falling back to sleep anytime soon. So I got up and got dressed and wandered outside. I found Lori and Andrea washing clothes. "Sorry." I said to them as I bent down to pick up a shirt to hang on the line. "Quite alright," Andrea said, glancing over at Lori who was smiling at the ground. "Did you?!" I asked, horrified. "Every bit of it." Lori said and they both laughed. Oh geez, I thought, everyone in the group heard our wild night. "Jealous?" I asked, getting really red in my face. "Actually," Andrea said, "I am. It's been a while for me."

"There's always Dale and Glenn." I said to her. "You're disgusting." She replied. We all three laughed and continued to hang the laundry. When we were done Lori went to check on Carl and Andrea went to the RV. I wandered my way around the farm to one of the wells. I could hear growling coming from somewhere and I couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from. Until I looked down.

There at the bottom of the water well was a very large walker. I couldn't tell how long it had been down there but its body was swollen because of the water. "Damn," I said out loud and I left to go find somebody.

I found Rick in the house talking to Carl. "Rick," I called to him and he looked in my direction. "We gotta problem."

He walked me out to the porch so we could talk privately. "What?" He asked me. "I think I'd better show you. You probably won't believe me." I said and I began to lead him in the direction of the water well.

"Holy shit." Rick said when I showed him the walker. "Told ya so." I replied. "What do we do?"

"I'm not sure. I need to talk to Hershel. Hopefully this isn't the water we've been drinking."

"Looks like it's been down there for a while. Wouldn't one of us already got sick from it?"

"I don't know." Rick said, walking away from me and back towards the house.

I decided to stay there and examine the situation. I stared down at the walker who was looking up at me and snarling. It was reaching its arms up trying to reach me. I got bored and sat down, waiting for everyone to return. Soon enough, they all did. Rick, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, Hershel and Maggie.

"So what do we do?" T-Dog asked.

"Shoot it?" Glenn said.

"No, we can't risk it contaminating the water any more than it already has." Rick said.

"So what do you suggest we do?" I asked. Rick shot Glenn a look that said "it has to be this way" and Glenn knew exactly what he was implying. "Man." Glenn said, rolling his eyes.

Shane brought over some rope, tied one end around Glenn's waist and made a lasso out of another rope. He handed that to Glenn. "When you can reach it, slip this over it's head and under its arms. We'll pull you up then pull the geek out." He explained. I was quite nervous about this plan. I didn't understand why we just couldn't leave it there and not use that well, since there were three or four more. Glenn nervously shook his head, letting Shane know that he understood the plan and we all got in place to lower him down.

We started lowing him down, inch by inch, very slowly. Things were going smoothly until we all heard a snap and we all were pulled forward. Glenn was dangling mere inches away from the walker's head. We all immediately started pulling him up until finally he was above ground. I collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

"Glenn, you okay?" Shane asked him. "I'm fine." He replied. "Don't worry about it Glenn. Wasn't your fault." Rick said. "Worry about what?" Glenn asked and held up the piece of rope that was tightly secured to the walker's waist. T-Dog laughed and slapped Glenn on the back in appreciation. "Hard parts over." Rick said and we all got back into position to get ready to pull the walker out.

Again, we pulled as hard as we could and I could tell we were getting close because the noises it was making seemed to be getting louder with every pull we made. We had gotten it half way out of the well when the rope cut through the middle of the walker, cutting it in two. The lower half, along with the majority of it's insides, fell back into the well. The top (more dangerous half) landed in the grass and was pulling itself with it's arms, trying to reach Rick's feet. It tripped him, and he fell backwards. I immediately got up, got my gun out and shot it in the head. "Shoulda just shot the damn thing." I said and I kicked the top half back into the well and then I walked away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

I walked away from the group and back towards my tent. I was so irritated, I felt like no one would even consider my opinion or my thoughts when it came to the well walker. I had decided that I was just going to go back to my tent, sit there and wait for Daryl to come back. My mind was in a fog of anger and I didn't realize that my fists were balled up at my sides. I couldn't believe that Rick and everyone else would put all of our lives in danger just because of one walker.

My anger welled up in me so much that I decided I needed to release it somehow and I punched the nearest tree. I heard a SNAP and felt immediate pain and I just knew I had broken it. Just great, I thought to myself. I reached my tent and went inside. I fumbled through my bag looking for anything to clean my hand up, which was already starting to swell and my knuckles were a bloody mess. I used some water to wash it off as best as I could and then decided to sit for a while.

What the hell am I going to do now? I asked myself. I suppose I could ask Hershel for help with my hand. I decided that that was what I should do so I stood up and walked out of the tent and toward the house. I passed Rick and Shane on the way there. They glanced in my direction but neither of them said anything to me as I walked past them. I walked right up the porch and into the house.

Beth and Hershel were sitting at the table and both looked in my direction as I entered. "What did my tree ever do to you?" Hershel asked me. "You saw that?" I asked him. "Everyone did." Hershel replied and then said to Beth, "Fetch my medical bag will ya hun."

"Yes, Daddy." Beth said as she stood up and walked out of the room. I took Beth's seat beside Hershel and showed him my hand. He studied it for a moment and said, "Can't rightly tell if it's broke or not without an x-ray, but if I were a gamblin' man I'd bet it was."

"I'm sorry." I said to him.

"Why you apologizing to me for? You didn't punch me. The one that needs to hear your sorrys from is the tree." He smiled at me and I returned it.

"Hurts like a bitch. It was stupid, I know but I think it was better than punching someone else."

Beth returned and placed the bag on the table between us. Hershel opened it and starting pulling the things he needed to mend me up. We sat in silence as he worked, first cleaning my scraped up knuckles then wrapping my swollen hand. "I need a drink." I said after he was finished. "You're in the wrong place for that." Hershel said, packing up his bag. "I used to be a drinkin' man. Every night actually. Gave it all up when I started to see the toll it was takin' on my family. So I found Jesus."

I sat and listened to the wise old man talk to me and started thinking to myself. I was never the religious type, sure I was forced to attend church when I was a little girl but once I got older I decided that Christianity just wasn't the religion for me. "You Christian?" Hershel asked me, interrupting my thoughts.

"Agnostic." I replied.

"Hmm." He mumbled. "Well I won't sit here and preach to ya. Won't do either of us any good." He laughed and I stood up to leave. "You're good people Hershel Greene." I said to him before I left with a smile on my face. "You are too, Brenna Dixon." He replied.

I walked out onto the porch and sat down on the steps. I stared up at the sky and watched the sunset. I let my mind wander and pretended that this was my home and there never was an outbreak. I thought back to when Daryl and I first became husband and wife. Everything was so perfect for us. With the exception of our families butting heads of course. My dad was not too pleased that I was marrying a Dixon and Daryl had tried so hard to win my father's approval. He never did, unfortunately, and my father died a year after we were married. My mother on the other hand, was very proud of me. She said that despite his past and everything else, Daryl Dixon was a hardworking man who always put his family first, and with me marrying him meant I would be his family. She knew he would take care of me. And he has.

Daryl cheating on me caught me off guard though. I was extremely hurt when a friend of mine told me she had seen him at the bar talking the girl up and eventually leaving with her. I didn't know how to approach him about everything and when I finally had the balls to do so, the world went to shit. I suppose none of that really matters anymore, I thought as I continued to stare across the fields where Rick and Shane were talking. It looked like they were having a very intense conversation. It wasn't my business, so I stayed where I was. Does Daryl really need to explain himself to me? If none of it matters anymore then, no, he really doesn't. I decided to just bury it into the back of my brain and not think about it anymore.

My mind continued to wander the way it always seem to do when I'm alone. Those weeks alone in the cabin before I came across Sophia were some of the hardest weeks I've ever had to endure. I didn't know how I would survive if I couldn't find him. Hell, I wasn't even sure if he was alive. I believed it was fate that brought us back together.

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed a figure walking into the field. It looked like Daryl, but he was bloody and limping. I jumped to my feet and took off running towards the field. I heard someone shout, "WALKER!" as I was running. "NO!" I yelled.

Shane and Rick were the first to reach the man. It was Daryl and I noticed Rick had his gun drawn on him. My heart pounded as I willed myself to move faster and faster. "That's twice you've had that thing pointed at my head," Daryl said in a rough voice. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

Rick let out a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon. "Daryl!" I shouted as I was about to reach him. They all turned their attention to me and then we heard a gun shot and watched as Daryl fell to the ground.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Rick, Shane and I all yelled "NO!" at the same time and turned in the direction of the blast. We saw Andrea lying face down on top of Dale's RV with a rifle in her hand. She quickly got up and started down the ladder. I dropped to my knees beside Daryl and inspected his head. "It just grazed him." I said as I tried to lift his unconscious body off the ground. Rick grabbed Daryl underneath one arm and Shane took the other from me. "Are- are those ears?" I pointed to the necklace Daryl had around his neck. Rick quickly ripped the necklace off Daryl's neck and said, "Let's not mention this."

We quickly made our way to the house, Rick and Shane dragging Daryl's limp body between them and me trotting behind them. Andrea caught up to us before we reached the house. "Oh, my God. I he dead?" She asked. "Unconscious." Rick replied. Andrea switched her attention to me. "Brenna, I am so sorry. I thought he was a walker. I-"

That was when I shoved her so hard she fell back and hit the ground hard, smacking the back of her head on the grass. "Stay away from me!" I exclaimed through clenched teeth. Andrea stared up at me wide-eyed and Rick and Shane paused a moment to see what was going on. "Get him to the house." I ordered them, and the men obeyed, quickening their pace a bit.

I stood over Andrea, watching the boys carry my husband into the house and finally watching them close the door. I turned my attention to the blonde bitch that shot my husband lying on the ground at my feet. She looked terrified, and she should have been because I don't ever remember being that angry. "Why?" I asked her.

"I already told you, I thought he was a walker."

"And you didn't see the others standing there in front of him? You don't think that if Daryl was infected Rick and Shane wouldn't hesitate to put him down?"

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You almost killed my husband, my family." I leaned down and looked into her eyes. "Next time, check the Annie Oakley bullshit at the door." I stood back up and kicked dirt on her and walked towards the house.

Dale approached me with concern and said, "Andrea was just trying to do the best thing."

"So her best thing is to shoot first and ask questions later, Dale? Ya know, I am sick to death of everyone here treating me and Daryl like we don't matter to this group. And I'm just equally tired of you taking up for everyone else's bullshit."

Dale stood there frozen as I continued my little speech. "I don't know what it's like to lose someone because of all of this. And I don't want to know either. We all know when I all comes down to it it's every man for himself. What happened today is a perfect fucking example of that." I was so angry that I didn't notice that I had tears streaming down my face and a crowd had gathered around us.

"That man," I said, pointing to the house. "Is the only thing I have left of my old life and of this world. And I'll be damned if anyone is gonna take that away from me."

"No he's not." I heard a little voice say. Sophia pushed past Lori and walked up to me. "You have me. You saved my life, remember? We have each other."

I dropped to my knees in front of her and grabbed her in a big hug. The tears overflowed as I hugged that little girl and she reciprocated the hug by lightly patting me on the back. Everyone started to walk away, Dale went back to his RV with Andrea to help nurse the headache she was getting, Lori and Carl went their own way, but Sophia stayed there with me as I melted down from everything that had happened in one day. This little girl consoled me as I basically lost my shit and she made me realize that Daryl wasn't the only one I had left in this world. I had Sophia. And she had me.

I wondered to myself if this is how a mother would feel towards her own child. I was never blessed to have children due to medical reasons beyond my control and Daryl never once pressured me about reproducing. That's why I loved him. He accepted things the way they were and didn't ask why.

Sophia looked up at me and asked me if I was okay. I simply nodded my head yes, even though I didn't feel like I was. She smiled at me and I said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She replied with her beautiful smile still on her face.

Carl yelled for Sophia from a distance, it was getting dark and everyone was settling in for the night. She looked in his direction and then back to me. "Go ahead, I'm cool." I said to her and she stood up and skipped away. I continued to sit there, picking the grass, throwing it up in the air and watching it fall back down.

I sat there for what seemed like forever, just thinking, much like I always do. I thought about when I was Sophia's age, how young and naïve I was and how I didn't have a care in the world. I remember growing up as a complete girly girl. Mom always had me in little dresses that I always managed to get filthy. She would be so mad at me when I would come home with dirt and mud caked on my face, hair and dress. But she never was mad for long. I would bathe and when I was done she would say, "There's my pretty princess." Then she would embrace me and hold me against her. I still remember how her heartbeat sounded. It's something that will be etched into my brain for the rest of my life.

With a heavy sigh I decided I had sat there long enough so I stood up and stretched. It was completely dark by now and my body ached. It seemed like every bone cracked and I was covered in blood and bruises. I did my best to pump water out of the water pump by the porch even though my hand was still throbbing. With everything that had been going on I completely forgot that I had broken it earlier that day. I did my best to wash the dirt and grime and blood for the shitty day off my body. I pulled my long auburn hair back into a pony tail and tied it with a piece of ribbon I had found a while ago while I was still in the cabin. I looked around and rubbed my eyes, exhaustion was setting in. I needed to check on Daryl though and see if he was okay.

I walked up the porch steps, opened the front door, stepped in and closed it shut behind me.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/U: Sorry for the brief hiatus. I've got a lot going on with Christmas and today was my son's 5****th**** birthday so needless to say life has been pretty hectic. I had some issues with this chapter. I don't feel like its good enough but I'm posting it anyways. I welcome and encourage all forms of reviews. Constructive criticism goes a long way for me. Please, if anyone reading this has any advice or ideas, feel free to let me know. If I use any of your ideas, I'll credit you in the next chapter. Thanks again for reading!**

**-SnoodlePoodle**

**Chapter 14**

I tapped on the bedroom door twice before I slowly opened it and stepped inside. There my husband lay, with a bandage around his head and around his waist, staring up at the ceiling. I walked over to the side of the bed and sat down.

"Hey," I started, placing my hand on his. Daryl turned his head towards me and gave me a weak smile. "Hey," He said back to me, his smile widening. I felt a tinge of relief after hearing his voice and seeing him smile. I knew he would be okay.

"Gotta headache?" I asked him. He grunted in approval and took a deep breath. "Got stabbed by one of my own arrows out there too. What kind of a dipshit does somethin' like that?" He pulled back the blanket to reveal the bloody bandage that was wrapped around his waist. "Gonna be a kick ass scar." He said, eyeballing me. "Chicks dig scars." I said back to him, fighting the urge to cry. I turned my head away so he wouldn't see my eyes welling up with the tears that would evidently spill out onto my cheeks.

"Brenna, don't-"

"Don't what? Don't get upset that I could have lost you again? Don't act like I don't give a shit? Is that how you want me to behave?" By this time I couldn't hold them back any longer and the tears started flowing and dropping onto our inter-locked hands. Daryl let out a sigh and stayed quiet, giving me the "okay" to get my thoughts out of my head.

"What would happen to me if you're gone?"

"You keep surviving." Daryl responded without hesitation.

"There's no life for me without you. You think that because we're surrounded by all these people that in the end we're not alone? These people only care about themselves. They'll risk anyone's life to ensure their own survival for just one more day. I saw proof of that today."

"What do you mean?" Daryl asked, trying to sit up but realizing the pain in his side was too much to handle at the moment so he laid back down.

"They lowered Glenn down into one of the wells today. The well had a walker trapped in it. We almost dropped him and he almost got bit. Why, you ask, did we do this? Because Rick thought it would be a good idea to try to lasso the dead bastard and lift it out of the well to try to save the water inside that may or may not have been contaminated. The plan failed, of course, but my point is, he risked not just Glenn's life, but ours as well just so we could have a little bit more drinking water." I bit my lip to keep from sobbing more than I already was.

"Rick's just trying to look out for us." Daryl said, defending Rick.

I rolled my eyes at his response but still kept my mouth shut. _Why does he constantly keep defending this guy? _ I thought to myself.

"Is that how your hand got all busted?" He gestured to my bandaged hand with his eyes. "No, that happened afterwards. My anger got the best of me and I punched a tree." Daryl let out a slight giggle and asked, "Tree okay?"

"Asshole," I responded while laughing. I got quiet again as the thoughts started racing in my head again. "Why do you not trust any of these people?" Daryl asked me.

"Andrea shot you." I said, staring into his blue eyes. "She's didn't even hesitate, Daryl. She saw her opportunity and took it. If she would have been a little bit to the left, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"What are you trying to say, Bren?" Daryl asked me, concerned.

"I- I don't know." I answered shaking my head. Daryl grunted in pain as he forced himself in an upright position. He wrapped his large arms around me and pulled me in close. I rested my head on his chest and became eternally thankful for the fact that I was able to hear his heart beating. "Neither of us will ever be alone." He said. "Even if we're apart, we're always together." His right hand started gently stroking my face. I closed my eyes and took comfort in the feeling of his large rough hands on my skin. "Please don't go out alone anymore." I said, pulling myself away from his grip and looking up at his face. He looked down into my eyes and said, "I promise."

We both laid back down on the bed and I immediately closed my eyes. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was feeling his lips pressed against my forehead as he kissed me goodnight.

* * *

"Well, Mrs. Dixon, what the first thing you gonna do as a married woman?" Daryl asked me as we were driving down the highway in his truck. He glanced to the passenger seat where I was sitting. I smiled and said, "My husband." We both laughed and he said, "Well, I guess we need to hurry now don't we?"

We were on our way back from our wedding. It was a beautiful August morning and I didn't have a care in the world. We were both happy, happier than we have ever been together. I sat in his truck in a white sundress staring down at the ring on my left finger. I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I thought of the significance that the ring represented. _He called me Mrs. Dixon, _I thought,_ I can definitely get used to that._

We had pulled up into the long driveway that separated our home from the road. The trees were full and alive with the sounds of birds and other wildlife roaming around on our property in the woods. "I want to die here." I said, looking over at Daryl as he turned the ignition off. He got out, walked around to my door and opened it for me. He extended his hand and helped me out of the truck and we started walking hand in hand to the front door. After inserting the key in the lock and turning it he pushed the door wide open and then turned to look at me. "We gotta do this right." He said as he gently swept me off my feet and carried me through the threshold.

He sat me back on my feet once we were in the living room and I quickly scanned the area. Everything looked the same, but it didn't at the same time. Something was off. "Somethings not right." I said to Daryl. Then we heard a loud bang coming from the kitchen and then a low growl. My breath hitched in my chest as I watched a man walk out of our kitchen and once he saw us, started walking in our direction. It was Daryl's brother, Merle. He was bloodied and looked like he had been fighting. His eyes were a lifeless yellow color and his skin was white. He had something in his mouth. Something that looked like a cat. "Merle?" I called out and as the sound of my voice bounced off the walls in our home Merle started charging for me.

I turned around looking for Daryl. I found him standing behind me, looking very much like his brother. His skin was white, he had blood all over him and his eyes were the same yellow as Merle's. Daryl lunged for me and I ducked and ran towards the bedroom. I could hear Merle and Daryl growling as they chased after me.

One of them grabbed my hair. I screamed as I was yanked backwards, falling flat on my back. Before I could get up, both men were on top of me. I stared into my husband's eyes as he reached down and took a bite out of my neck.

* * *

I woke up screaming. My heart pounded in my chest as I sat up in bed trying to get my senses back. _Just a dream,_ I thought as I threw the covers off me and tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I looked to the side of the bed that I had last seen my husband on. He wasn't there of course. I quickly got up and walked outside.

I had had bad dreams like this before, but none had ever shaken me so badly. I needed to find Daryl and talk to him. I needed his reassurance. I needed his guidance. I just needed him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

I found Daryl sitting under the weeping willow tree that reminded us both of the day we met. He had already taken the bandage off head and was wearing a shirt so I wasn't sure if he still had his side taped up as well. I slowed my run to a slow trot and I approached him I dropped to my knees and threw my arms around his neck. He instinctively wrapped his arms around my back and hugged me back. "What's wrong babe?" He asked me. I could hear the concern in his voice. "Bad dream." I responded, nuzzling his neck. He let out a slight chuckle and pushed me forward so he could look at my face. "A little old for this aren't we?" He asked me, smiling. "Make fun of me all you want, I don't care. I feel better now knowing that you're okay." I said back to him.

"I wasn't okay in your dream?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, we'll do something else." He pulled me on top of him. His back against the tree and me straddling his legs. He placed his hands on both sides of my face and pulled me close for a kiss. His hands moved from my face to back as he continued to kiss me. I let out a soft moan and a giggle as he went from kissing my mouth to nibbling my neck. I entangled my fingers in his hair and tugged a little, making him break away from my neck and look me in the eyes. That was when I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him as hard and as passionately as I could.

Words couldn't describe how I felt at this very moment. I was rushed into a world when he and I were the only two that existed. I could feel the roughness of his facial hair against my skin and I needed him. I lowered my hands to undo the buckle of his belt when I heard someone yell. I ignored it until I heard whoever was yelling was yelling mine and Daryl's names. "Fucking Christ." I mumbled as I hopped off of Daryl's lap and onto the grass. "That was fun." Daryl smirked to me. I looked down at his pants and said, "Yeah, it was wasn't it." Daryl quickly looked down, muttered a profanity and quickly repositioned himself on the ground just as Shane walked up on us.

"Gotta go on a med run. We're almost outta antibiotics and other shit," Shane said, trying not to make eye contact with us. "And…" Daryl said, annoyed. "I need a partner." Shane said, looking at me. Daryl exchanged eye contact for a second and that was all I needed to know that I would have to go along with him. "Well," I said, "Unless you have a problem with a woman tagging along I guess I could come with you. I don't think Daryl wants to do anything for a few days."

"That's fine." Shane said, rubbing his buzz cut head. I still didn't understand why he shaved his head. He said it was cooler on him. But I wondered if there was more to that story than he was letting on. The fact that the last man to go on a run alone with Shane entered my mind, but I quickly shoved it away. I stood up and stretched then bent down and gave Daryl a kiss. "I'll be back soon." I said to him as Shane and I started walking away.

After I had gathered my weapons and other things I needed we got in a car and headed to a town. With Shane driving and myself in the passenger seat the ride was quiet. I stared out the window and watched the Georgia scenery fly by. I liked Shane. He didn't feel the need to break silences with menial conversation. I had never been alone with him before, so I figured a little conversation would have been great and I didn't care if he didn't like it or not.

"So you were a cop?" I asked him.

"Yep, Rick and I were on the same force."

"You two are pretty tight aren't ya?"

"Yeah." Shane answered uneasily, biting his lip. Had I struck a nerve? I decided to investigate further.

"Lori's pretty cool, right. Carl may turn out to be a pretty bad ass kid."

"Yeah, they're great. Lori is…Lori is an amazing mother. Amazing woman." The way he spoke of her peaked my interest a little more. So I pressed on. "There something between you two?"

"Who? Me and Lori? Nah." He smiled and shook his head. I wasn't convinced. I stared at him and watched him avoid eye contact. "So you were a nurse?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Yeah," I answered. "What's going on between you and Lori?" I wasn't going to drop it.

Shane let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Look, there was something but it's over now. She has Rick to take care of her."

"You slept with her." I stated.

"Few times."

"Oh, you slut!" I joked and laughed. He started laughing as well and responded with, "Yeah, I guess so."

I sat back in my seat and we were silent for a few more minutes. This time Shane was the one who spoke up. "She's pregnant."

I stared at Shane wide-eyed with my mouth gaping open. "Is it?" I asked.

"We don't know."

"We as in you and Lori?"

"We as in me, Lori and Rick."

I started nervously biting my thumbnail. This was a lot of information to take on all at once. Lori was pregnant. How in the hell are we going to deal with a pregnant woman in this group? How would we deal with a baby?

A few minutes later we had pulled into a subdivision. Typical suburb upper class houses lined the street. A lot had swing sets and slides in the front yards. Without the occasional crow here and there the place was a ghost town. I looked around for any sign of any walkers but couldn't see any. That didn't rule out the possibility of them being inside the houses though and that unfortunate task is what we needed to accomplish.

Shane pulled into the driveway of the first house we came to. It was a light blue two story building with a covered porch with a swing hanging on it. It made me think of the porch swing Daryl had made for me and hung up on our porch. I smiled to myself as I thought about all the good memories we had made on that front porch. "Ready to go in?" Shane asked me, pulling me away from my wonderful memories and back to the harsh reality that was our lives now. "Um, yeah." I said as I checked the clip in my pistol and opened my car door.

I went to holster my gun and Shane raised his hand to stop me. "Always be ready. Get the safety off." He whispered to me. I flipped the safety off my piece and nodded my head in agreement. I followed him up the sidewalk and onto the front porch. Shane tried the front door and it swung open with ease. We both peered inside and Shane cautiously stepped across the threshold. I followed suit just as careful. Shane went towards the kitchen, I wandered into the living room and the dining room. I immediately started flipping the couch cushions looking for anything that was useful.

I looked around the room and my eyes stopped on the mantle. I walked over and picked up a picture frame. It held a picture of a man, a woman and a little girl. Most likely the previous tenants of this house. I wondered where they were now. I didn't want to think of WHAT they could be now.

I was still holding the picture in my hands when I heard a loud thump coming from above my head. I whipped my head around towards the source of the noise just as Shane entered the room with his gun drawn. "You hear that?" He whispered to me. I swallowed hard and nodded my head. He waved for me to follow him up the steps. We quietly ascended the stairs and heard the thump again. I cocked my gun back and pointed it at the door the noise was coming from. Shane slowly placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it.

Shane stood back and kicked the door open. Inside the room standing with its back to us was what used to be the little girl in the picture I saw downstairs. Her blonde hair was matted and dirty. Her face was bloodstained and her teeth were black. Her eyes were the brightest shade of yellow I had ever seen.

She quickly turned towards us after hearing the door being kicked in and with a low growl she leapt up and started running towards us. I started to take a step back and quickly reminded myself she was no longer a little girl. Finally I got the nerve to pull my trigger. I closed my eyes and my gun went off with a loud bang and for a moment all I could hear was the ringing in my ears.

When I opened my eyes again the little girl lay dead at my feet.

_She wasn't human anymore, _I kept telling myself.

_She wasn't human anymore_.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/U: Lots of great ideas flowing through my brain at the moment. A lot of cool stuff is going to happen in my opinion. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.**

**Also, I wanted to apologize for all the grammatical errors in the last chapter. My excuse is I was really tired and was too lazy to read the chapter over before I posted it.**

**Keep the reviews and suggestions coming. I love hearing from you guys**

**-snoodlepoodle**

**Chapter 16**

"Brenna? Brenna! Wake the fuck up!"

Shane pulled me out of my trance by screaming at me from the top of his lungs. After I was brought to I realized why he was screaming at me. Another walker, probably the mother, had him pinned against the wall and was inching its way to his neck. I immediately pulled my knife out and flung it at the walker's head. The blade went straight through until stopping centimeters away from Shane's nose. Shane pushed the walker to the floor and stared at me through wild eyes.

"What. The. Fuck, Brenna?!" He screamed at me.

"I…," I opened my mouth to offer my explanation and Shane pointed his gun at me. I didn't have time to raise my own weapon before he fired his. The bullet sprung towards me, getting so close to my face that I could feel it brush my hair as it whizzed past me and landed somewhere behind me. It took a moment to realize that I was still alive and when I did I turned around and saw the third member of this poor family. _Must've been Dad_, I solemnly thought to myself. The walker lay dead at my feet, much like his daughter, with a bullet hole in his forehead.

"…hesitated." I finished my sentence.

"Holy shit!" Shane exclaimed, a big smile on his face. "I knew it was gon' be close but goddamn! Whew…" He exhaled forcibly and rubbed his head with his unarmed hand. "You 'aight?"

"Am I alright? You almost killed me!" I screamed at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry but who almost got bit while you were takin' a nap?" He spat back.

At that moment I realized he was right. I did space out after taking out that little girl, I mean, the little walker. "What the hell was that anyways?" He asked me, his voice noticeably calmer.

"I don't know." I answered and then quickly added, "I don't want to talk about it." I turned to leave and Shane stopped me. "Talk to me Brenna."

I drew my pistol and pointed it at his face. "Drop. It." I said through clenched teeth. Shane threw up his hands in surrender with a smirk on his face. I laughed at him and lowered my weapon. "Still not talking about it." I told him as I turned to leave the room. I got halfway through the hall when I realized I had left my knife buried in "mom's" skull. I walked back to get it and when I re-entered the room Shane stood there holding it out in his hand with the same smirk on his face. I reached out to take it from him and he jerked it out of the way.

"Gimme my knife." I told him, slightly annoyed.

"Gimme a kiss." He said back.

"Fuck off." I retorted and snatched my knife out of his hand. I holstered it and left the room.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We did get a lot of the things we needed though. I was secretly happy that middle aged women were pill poppers. One house had someone very skilled (or seemed to be based on the trophies everywhere) at archery and had a whole arsenal of bows and titanium bows. I squealed in delight as I picked one bow up and felt its weight in my hand. I grabbed a quiver, filling it with as many arrows as I possibly could and hung it around my neck. Then, after grabbing the bow and looking for anything else of possible use I left the room.

I met Shane outside by the car. "I think we got all we could get." I said. "I think you're right." He agreed and opened the trunk so I could put my things inside. "Nice bow." He said pointing to the new weapon in my hand. "Yeah, I figured Daryl shouldn't be the only one with a badass bow." I said as I loaded my bag into the trunk. "How good are ya?" He asked me. "Depends on who you're asking." I answered, smiling. "I'm asking you, Mrs. Dixon." He replied. I looked around and saw a birdhouse hanging from a tree about 200 yards away. I reached up and grabbed an arrow out of my quiver and loaded it onto the bow. I pulled the string back and aimed at the birdhouse. I let go of the arrow and we both watched as is sailed through the air and crashed into the birdhouse, shattering it into pieces. "Damn," Shane exclaimed. I smiled in satisfaction and said, "Told ya so." Shane laughed and responded with, "Yes you did little woman." Shane closed the trunk lid and we both got in the car.

Once I was seated I leaned my seat back, rolled down my window and propped my right foot on the open window. The breeze felt wonderful on my skin and I leaned my head back and let my eyes close. We rode along in silence, Shane manning the wheel and me riding shotgun, just like before. It had been so long since I had rode in a car as the passenger and it was amazing to be able to just not have to think about things for a while.

"Brenna, you need to talk about what happened back there." Shane said, interrupting my nap.

I opened my eyes and rolled my head to the left to look at him. "Why?"

"I've never seen you space out like that before. I almost got killed 'cuz of it."

"Don't worry, won't happen again. Scouts honor." I threw up the old Boy Scout hand signal and went back to trying to get some sleep.

Shane slowed the car down to a crawl and eventually to a complete stop. Feeling the change of momentum I raised myself up and looked around. "What are you doing?" I asked him. Shane put the car in park and unbuckled his seatbelt. "How much do you love your husband, Brenna?" He asked while staring at his hands as they gripped the steering wheel.

"What kind of question is that?" I asked back.

"One you need to answer honestly." He responded still not looking at me.

I was starting to feel a bit nervous because I didn't understand what he was trying to ask me. So I answered him as honestly as I could. "I love him with the entirety of my heart and soul. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for that man. I owe him so much more than my life and when I die, I will use my last bit of life energy to profess my undying love and affection for him."

I watched Shane's face carefully as I recited my speech to him. His eyes never left his hands on the steering wheel but I could see him tightening his grip more and more with each word I spoke. I looked out the car window and noticed that not only was it already starting to get dark but a small group of walkers were headed in our direction. "Shane, let's go." I urged him but he still never said a word. He raised his head finally and saw the walkers headed towards us. He calmly put the car in gear and started inching forward. I sighed in relief as we started to pull away when all of a sudden I was pushed back in my seat from the force of the car suddenly accelerating very quickly.

"Shane! What are you doing?" I yelled as we grew closer and closer to the group of walkers. He never said a word, only pushed the gas a little harder. Within seconds the walkers were right in front of us. Shane nailed two with the front of the car. One fell to the ground and was crushed by the speeding tires and the other was thrown onto the hood of the car, smashing the windshield. I screamed and covered my face as glass and blood showered all over me. Shane pulled the emergency brake and we spun out into a 360 before coming to a complete stop.

My heart felt like it could burst and I sat there for a few seconds panting and staring at Shane in disbelief. He stared straight ahead, still not looking at me. "What the hell?" I gasped. I was really getting scared now. Was Shane the reason Otis never returned from that run or did the walkers get him like Shane had said they did? I was beginning to think Shane's story was complete bullshit.

"Are you going to fucking say anything?! What has gotten into you?!" I screamed at him.

"I can't do this anymore, Brenna." Shane finally spoke up. "All these women around me, they all got somebody. I aint got no one."

"You seriously did all of this," I waved my arms in the air in reference to the GTA style driving I had just endured. "Because you're lonely?!" I scoffed and turned my head away from him. "Fucking drive the goddamn car, please. We need to get out of here before more geeks show up."

"I did all of that because I didn't like the answer to my question."

"You have got to be kidding me." I shook my head in disbelief. This guy truly was psychotic.

"I wanted you from the moment I first saw you."

"Well that's a bit cliché don't ya think?"

"You don't understand."

"You're right, I DON'T understand. So put the car in drive and let's get the fuck out of here!"

That was when he reached over, grabbed my face in his hands, and kissed me.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

My body tensed up as our lips touched. His rough hands holding my head in place firmly. I grunted and tried to push him off of me but he was too strong. His grip tightened on me as he started climbing over the center console of the car, trying to get on top of me. He let one hand slip from my face to the button of his jeans. I heard him unzip them and I opened my mouth just a bit to let his lower lip slide in between my teeth. I bit down as hard as I could, drawing blood. Shane jumped back in pain, releasing his grip on me and brought both his hands to his mouth. I swung hard with my right hand and cracked him in his nose, but immediately wished I hadn't done that. I clutched my hand and screamed in agony. _Fucking hell! _I thought, remembering that it was still broken.

The punch to the face had Shane seeing stars. He was leaned up against the car door groaning and holding his face. "You son of a bitch!" I screamed at him and opened my door. The sound of my voice woke him up a bit because as I jumped out of the car and started running I heard his car door slam. I had almost reached the edge of the forest when I heard a gunshot and for the second time that day, I felt a bullet whiz past my face.

I stopped dead in my tracks and reached for my own gun. I felt around the holster and found out it was empty. I had left my gun and my knife in my bag in the trunk and in my rush to get away from Shane I left the bow and quiver in the front seat. "Forget somethin'?" Shane asked, walking towards me with his gun pointed at my face.

I panted as I brought up my good hand and wiped Shane's blood off my lips. I stared intensely at him, trying my best to hide my immense fear. "Did you forget who my husband is" I asked him back.

"Your husband is Daryl Dixon. The dumbest redneck, drug-addicted, piece of trash that has ever walked this Earth. And you, you're nothing but his little whore." Shane said before running up to me and snatching me by my hair and began pulling me back to the car.

"What do you want from me, Shane?"

Shane pushed me as hard as he could over the hood of the car. He kept his hand on the back of my head, holding me down as he quickly started to pull my pants down with his other. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "I want to fuck.". With that he slammed hard into me from behind. I started screaming as loud as I was capable of screaming and that's when Shane punched me in the back of my head. Everything got quiet, everything got dark and it all eventually turned to nothing.

* * *

My eyes fluttered wildly as I finally woke up. _Where was I? How did I get here? _ I thought as I sat up. MY hands immediately went to my head as the biggest head-rush rushed through my brain, making me so dizzy I almost gagged. All I felt was pain. Pain everywhere. I checked my body and realized my pants and panties were halfway off and bloodied. I saw streaks of dried red blood running down my legs. I looked like I had just given birth. _Motherfucker raped me, _I thought angrily to myself. _And left me out here with nothing. _I started feeling around on the ground around me for anything I could use as a weapon. Nothing but grass. I stood up the best I could and started walking down the road in the direction I had HOPED the farm was in.

Every step I took was agony. I couldn't wrap myself around what just happened. What had possessed Shane to do these unspeakable things? This was one of the rare times where I was wrong about someone. Once Shane gets back to the farm, Daryl is going to notice I'm not with him and hopefully Daryl will come search for me.

The longer I walked the more tired and nauseous I started to feel. I was concussed and very weak, probably from the blood loss around my nether regions. I cursed Shane's name under my breath and kept walking. I wondered if Shane was already at the farm and what he told everyone. What's his excuse for coming back one person short?

_Dumb fucker probably gonna tell everyone I'm dead._ I thought as I took one agonizing step after another. I wanted to cry and scream and just hit everything I could but I couldn't do any of that at the same time. My mind raced along with my heart and I just continued to focus on walking and listening. I was in the middle of nowhere with no weapons at night. I needed to keep what little senses I had left in shape if I wanted to make it back alive.

For a while the only noises I heard came from insects and my own labored breathing. I couldn't remember how far away from the farm Shane and I had traveled earlier that day and I was having a hard time judging how far I thought I still had to go. Everything still looked familiar to me, somewhat, but I still wasn't one hundred percent sure I was even traveling in the correct direction.

I decided to take a rest and sat down on the asphalt. I slowly lowered myself down until I laid there flat on my back, staring up at the stars. It felt great to lay down, everything didn't hurt as much as it did when I was upright. I let my body relax as much as I was able to and continued to look up at the night sky. I closed my eyes and let my mind's eye do all the watching and wandering.

I immediately saw an image of Daryl and myself, laying over a blanket on a hill top, staring up at the stars. Daryl's strong arms holding me close to him as he would lightly kiss the back of my neck.

"If you could relive any moment in your life over and over again, what would that moment be?" Daryl asked me.

"Hmm…I really don't know. There's been so many awesome moments in my life I can't just choose one."

"If you did?"

"If I had to choose one of the best memories it would have to trump everything else that I've already experienced up to that point in my life." I began to rattle on and on about how I couldn't possibly choose just one when Daryl abruptly sat up and started digging in his pocket.

"What are you doing?" I had asked him.

He presented a square box in the palm of his hand. "I'm about to make you happier that you have ever made me." He said, and then opened the box. Inside draped around black velvet was a white gold locket. I gasped in awe and looked at it. A big wide smile spread across my face as I picked it up from the box. I opened the locket and the image of Daryl and I at our local tavern's Christmas party from the previous year came into view. My eyes had begun to water and were about to overflow as I sat there staring at the picture when he said, "Turn it over."

I closed it back up and turned it over in my hand. In beautiful cursive writing he had engraved:

"**We Will Always Find Each Other. – D. D."**

I made a sound that sounded like some combination of a whimper and a laugh. Whatever it was, the tears were flowing as I flung my arms about his neck and kissed him as hard as I could. He broke the kiss and took the necklace out of my hands. He moved my hair to my shoulder and draped the necklace around my neck and fastened it for me. He sat back and looked at me with love in his eyes. "This is it." I said to him.

"This is what?"

"This is the moment I want to live over and over for the rest of my life."

Daryl smiled at me and kissed my hand. "Well love, I do too."

**A/N so, please don't kill me after this chapter I promise things are gonna turn out for the better for everyone involved. Thanks for the support, I'm having a lot of fun writing this story and as of right now I am currently going to begin a second story. Still hashing out some ideas in my brain but once I finish this story (which will probably be in the next 4 or 5 chapters) I'm going to start on a new one.**

**-snoodlepoodle**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

I was dragged out of my beautiful dream by the sound of a low growl. I opened my eyes and leaned up on my elbows. I could see a head light in the distance. I tried my best to stand up, but my legs were so weak they wouldn't support my weight. So I opted to sit there in the middle of the road and watch as the sound and the light advanced on me. As the mystery vehicle came closer I realized it was a motorcycle and my excitement grew. It was Daryl, I just knew it. I laid back down on the hard asphalt and waited.

The motorcycle came to a stop in front of me and I heard feet pounding the pavement. In seconds Daryl's face was in my view. "Brenna? What happened?"

"Shane…" I could barely speak to him without sobbing. Daryl reached down and wrapped his arms around me.

"He told everyone you were dead." Daryl said. "I was the only one that didn't believe him. I left to look for you as soon as I could. What happened?" He asked me again.

I swallowed hard, my throat felt like there was a golf ball lodged in it. Daryl stood up and walked back to his bike. He dug through his bag and brought back a bottle of water. I grabbed it and drained the bottle in no time. "Daryl," I started, "that mother fucker deserves to die.'

Daryl knelt down next to me. I could see the concern in his eyes and the increase of anger as well. I knew shit was about to hit the fan. "What did he do?"

"He raped me."

As soon as the words passed over my lips Daryl was up and pacing around. He started screaming profanities as loud as he could manage. I somehow managed to get to my feet and Daryl rushed over and grabbed my arm, allowing me to brace against him. "I'm gonna kill him." Daryl said to me through clenched teeth. "Not if I get to him first." I added. We walked arm in arm to the motorcycle and he helped me on. Then Daryl hopped in front of me, kicked it in gear and we sped off back to the farm.

Fifteen minutes later and we were back at the farm. My anxiety grew as we drove up the driveway and I saw the car that Shane and I had taken on our run. He was here. He didn't scare me, but I was very uncomfortable knowing that he was around somewhere. We slowed to a stop and Daryl hopped off and reached his hand out. "What are you gonna do?" I asked him. "Don't know yet. Gotta think it over first. He's not going to like whatever it's gonna be though." Daryl shifted his eyes around, trying to see who was around us. Everyone was either asleep or in the house. "C'mon." Daryl said, tugging on my hand. He led me to our tent and helped me undress. He took off my boots first, then my socks. He started to undo my pants and I winced in pain. He finally got them off very carefully along with my underwear. He finished undressing me by removing my shirt and my bra. I laid on the sleeping bag, completely nude and watched him wad all of my bloody clothing up and put them in the corner of the tent.

My body was a mess of dried blood and dirt. I really did look like a rape victim. Before Daryl could get me a fresh set of clothing I sat up and reached out for him. He knelt down in front of me and I kissed him softly. "I love you." I uttered and kissed him again harder. I reached my hands up to his belt buckle. It was weird, after the ordeal I had just gone through I wanted nothing more than to be touched in that way by my husband. "Brenna…" Daryl started to say something but I shushed him. Looking into his eyes I whispered, "Shut the fuck up."

Daryl kissed me this time and let his hands wander over my breasts. I undid his belt buckle and released him. His breath hitched in his throat as he felt me wrap my hand around him. Without breaking our kiss he returned the favor by sliding a finger deep inside me. I moaned into his mouth as we both moved in unison, me getting wetter and him getting harder.

Daryl finally broke our kiss, positioned himself between my legs and took off his shirt. I gazed at his powerful arms and watched them flex as he entered me. I closed my eyes and moaned with the mixture of pain and pleasure. He silenced me with his mouth by kissing me, slowing parting my lips with his tongue. With each thrust I was thrown more and more into euphoria. He brought his mouth to one of my nipples. Clutching my left breast with his hand he suckled, licked and even nibbled on the nipple, all while never slowing or quickening his pace.

My body started to tingle and I could feel the beginning of my climax coming on. I moaned louder this time and sensing my body tensing up Daryl accelerated his thrusts. Every inch of my body felt like it was on fire at that moment. Our bodies, rocking back and forth, seemed to melt into each other. Like two pieces of a puzzle we fit together as one. I raked my nails against his back as he continued to thrust into me. I had to muffle a scream by burying my head into his neck and biting him. This made him move faster and ram himself deeper into me. Finally, Daryl let out his own groan of pleasure as his own climax came and went.

He lowered himself to kiss me on the forehead and rolled over to lay beside me. We both laid there, panting, not speaking. I glanced over at him. He had his eyes closed and as I gently laid my hand on his chest he opened them and smiled at me.

With tears streaming down my face I smiled back at him and mouthed the words "I love you." He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips and gently kissed it. "You too." He responded. We laid there for a while, me with my head on his chest and him with his arm around me. My body ached all over but I didn't care. Every second of what just happened was worth all the aches and pains my body was going through. Daryl wiped the tears off my cheeks with his free hand.

My stomach growled and then I realized I hadn't eaten anything all day. Noticing this, Daryl sat up and grabbed a package of saltines and a bottle of water. "Not much." He said, handing me the food. "It's enough." I replied as I broke a cracker in half, put one half in my mouth and reached the other half to him. He took it out of my hand with his teeth and crunched it. We were silent for a while. Daryl laying back with his hands behind his head and I sat there crunching my stale crackers.

"You gonna have Hershel take a look at ya?"

"Probably not."

Daryl let out an exasperated sigh and I added, "I can't get pregnant, remember?"

He reached over and grabbed my water bottle. He emptied the bottle and tossed it away from us. Then he laid back down and started absentmindedly grazing his fingers down my bare back, sending chills all over my body. "Loris pregnant." I said out loud. "Might be Shane's."

Daryl sat back up and looked at me. "How do you know?"

"Dipshit told me himself. Apparently Shane and Lori had a thing before Rick found her and Carl. It ended as soon as Rick came back into the picture but no one knows who the father of the kid is."

"Fuck." Daryl muttered.

Everything was quiet again for a while and then we heard gunshots. Daryl jumped up and put his pants back on. I got up as quickly as I could and got myself dressed. Daryl was out of the tent before I could even get my shirt over my head. Immediately following the shots we heard screaming. Realizing that I still didn't have any of my weapons with me I frantically searched the tent for anything I could use. I ended up finding one of Daryl's pocket knives. Wouldn't have been my first choice of weaponry but it had to do. I grabbed it and took off running towards the noise.

Everything was coming from the RV. Everyone had gathered around it and I had a hard time seeing over everyone as I was running up on the scene. "He's suffering." I heard someone say. I saw Daryl standing next to Rick. They were both looking down at Dale, who lay on the ground with his belly ripped open by a walker that somehow managed to get onto the farm. The walker laid dead next to him with a bullet hold through it's skull.

Rick had his gun pointed at Dale's fear stricken face but he couldn't muster up the courage to pull the trigger. I avoided being seen by staying in the shadows away from everyone else but I watched as Daryl walked over to Rick, took the pistol out of his hand and pointed it at Dale's head. "Sorry brother." Daryl said and he pulled the trigger. Dale went silent, as did the rest of the group. I covered my mouth with my hands to try to keep my sobs quiet and then before anyone could see me I turned around and ran back to the tent.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

I reached my tent and was underneath my sleeping bag before anyone could notice I was there, or so I thought. Through the tears in my eyes I glanced towards the opening of the tent and saw Andrea standing there, looking at me with shock in her eyes. "Brenna? You're alive." She gasped and quickly walked over and knelt down beside me. I tried my best to hide the bruises on my face and arms but was too late in doing so. She saw them and asked, "What happened?"

"Do you realize how many times I've heard that today?" I said, trying my best to laugh everything off. Andrea kept her gaze on me and watched every move I made. She noticed the bruises, the blood stains, the cuts on my face. She reached out to touch my face but I quickly turned away. "Did Daryl-"She started to ask, but I shook my head, quickly letting her know that my husband wasn't that one that injured me. "That was a one-time thing." I whispered.

"Shane said you were attacked and bitten by a walker."

"Shane's a fucking liar."

"So what did happen?"

I brought my knees up and hugged them against me tightly. Should I tell Andrea about possibly the most horrific event in my entire life? Would she even believe me? "Why do you even care, Andrea? Especially after everything I've done and said to you." I wiped the tears off my cheeks with the back on my hand.

"Like it or not, we're family. Families fight, but they make up in the end. You've been a remarkable asset to this group and all the anger you had towards me for shooting Daryl was justified. I would have reacted the very same way. I am so very sorry for that."

Andrea offered a sincere smile to me and I returned it the best I could. She grabbed my good hand and held it in hers. "Talk to me." She said, looking into my eyes.

I didn't know why Andrea was being so nice to me, but at that moment I didn't care. She was acting like a friend, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment. "Wanna know why Shane chose me to take on his run instead of you?" I asked her. Andrea remained quiet, waiting for me to continue. I took a deep breath and started talking.

"We stopped at a house. We split up as we searched for what we needed. We didn't know it at the time but there were three walkers in there, a family. Mom, Dad and a little girl. I killed the little girl and spaced out. It rattled me. I had never killed one that young before. Shane almost got bit by the mom, but I knocked her out as well. He took care of the dad before it got me. Everything after that was fine. No problems whatsoever. We packed up, loaded everything and took off. Then he changed. He kept talking about how he was lonely and needed someone to be there for him. I was just trying to be nice, a friend you could call it. Just someone he could come to if he needed anything. Next thing I know he stops the car and kisses me. I hit him of course and I guess it pissed him off pretty good. Long story short, he knocked me out and raped my unconscious body and then left me there to die."

Andrea was quiet for a while after I finished talking. I could see her trying to process the information I had just given her in her head. She shook her head and said, "You're kidding me?" I turned around and lifted up the back of my shirt, exposing all the bruises and cuts on my back. I lifted up my hair to show her the enormous lump on my head that resulted in him punching me so hard that I was knocked unconscious. "What kind of sick person would do this to someone?" I asked her, the tears in my eyes finally spilling out over my cheeks again. Andrea gently reached out and put her arms around me. "I don't know what to say Brenna. What are you going to do about this?"

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill Shane Walsh."

* * *

The next morning I decided I had been in hiding long enough and ventured outside of my tent. The sun was hot for that time of the day and everyone was around doing their own thing. I walked around like nothing was wrong until someone spotted me.

"Oh my God. Brenna!" Glenn and Maggie came running towards me.

"You're alive." Maggie exclaimed.

"I don't feel like it." I muttered. "Where's your dad?" I asked, looking at Maggie.

"In the house with Beth." She answered. I turned to walk away from her but she stopped me. "Wait, do we get an explanation?"

"Later." I answered, and took off to the house.

I walked through the front door and was greeted by the man I had come looking for. Hershel looked at me like he was seeing a ghost. "Brenna?"

"Yeah, Hershel, we need to talk." I looked around the room. "Privately." I added just for good measure.

Hershel led me to the room where Carl and Daryl both had slept when they were injured. I walked in and sat on the bed and Hershel shut the door behind us. "I want to know everything." He said, pointing an old weathered finger at me. I began the tedious task of retelling my story to the old doctor. Occasionally he would shake his head as he was listening to me. He kept silent and let me talk and when I finished he took a seat next to me on the edge of the bed. I could see the tears welling up in his old eyes as he scanned my face and arms, mentally noting the visible battle wounds. I showed him the back of my head and the entirety of my back. When he was done examining me he finally spoke.

"I never trusted him. There's just something about him. Dale and I talked about him." My heart grew heavy at the sound of Dale's name. I already missed that man more than I thought I would. "Hershel, I want him dead."

"I don't think revenge is the right answer." He started.

"He raped me!" I said a little louder than I probably should and then added in a hushed tone, "Why in the Hell do you think I would want him around me now?"

"You didn't let me finish." Hershel said. "I was gonna agree with you. But only half agree. I don't want him around my daughters or any of these other women on my land. But I don't think taking the man's life is such a good idea. We need to tell Rick. See what he suggests, we may just be able to get away with making him leave."

"Shane and Rick are like brothers to each other. There's no way he's going to agree to exile his best friend."

"That's the risk you have to take."

"Where is Shane?" I asked him through clenched teeth.

"Now that I can't tell you, only because I don't know."

I stood up to leave and then we both heard Beth shouting from inside the house. "Daddy! Daddy, they're gonna open the barn!"

I gave Hershel a puzzled look as he jumped up and ran out the door. I followed him outside and there everyone stood in front of the barn. I kept my distance from everyone as soon as I saw Shane holding a walker on a leash. _What the fuck? _ I thought to myself.

"Do not open that barn!" Hershel ordered Shane once he reached him.

"Whatcha got hidin' in there Hersh? Your family? Your family of walkers?"

"They are still people!" Hershel yelled back.

"Really now?" Shane said. He unhooked his walker from the leash and pushed it back as hard as he could. He raised his pistol and shot three rounds into the walker's chest. The walker fell backwards onto the ground and continued to struggle to get up again. "Three rounds to the heart, Hershel. How many people do you know that could survive three rounds to the chest?!" As soon as the walker was back on it's feet Shane put the fourth round in it's head. It hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Curiosity forced me to move closer to the crowd. I found Daryl standing towards the back and I went to him. "Get ready." He said. He handed me my pistol. "Found it in the car last night." I checked the clip and turned the safety off.

Shane started furiously chopping at the lock in the barn door with an ax. All the while Hershel, Beth and Maggie all screamed and begged for him to stop. With one last forceful hack the lock fell to the ground and Shane pulled the barn door open.

The inside of the barn was very dark but we all could hear the growling and smell the horrid smell of death. And then, more than a dozen walkers walked out into the sunlight. We all stood there with our guns drawn and waited for the right moment to shoot. "Light it up guys." Shane said as he squeezed the trigger of his own weapon.

Time stood still as we all starting firing at the walkers. One by one they each dropped dead to the ground until finally they were all dead. Daryl and I exchanged glances that said "What the fuck just happened?"

Hershel walked over to Rick and said, "I want you and your people off my land before sundown." Then he, Beth and Maggie walked back towards the house. Everyone started walking away in different directions. Daryl nudged me in the shoulder, "Let's go." He said. "Uh-uh. I want him to see me." Daryl followed my gaze towards Shane, who was standing alone staring at the pile of dead bodies at his feet. "Brenna-"Daryl started to say something and I cut him off.

"Hey asshole!" I yelled. Shane looked up and his gaze landed on my face. "Uh…I see you made it back okay." He stammered, obviously afraid.

"Yeah, I kinda did. See all this?" I pointed to the pile of rotting dead bodies. "You're next." Shane smirked at me and chuckled, "That right?"

"Yeah, that's exactly right." I kicked a rock across the ground and then grabbed Daryl's arm. We turned and walked away, leaving Shane alone with his thoughts.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Okay, I had Chapter 20 up before but then I noticed a bunch of plot holes and stuff so I took it down and re-wrote it. Plus it was really rushed and I didn't feel like it was good at all. To explain my absence I'm just going to say that I was having a hard time continuing to write. Call it writer's block, but I knew what I wanted to happen I was just having a hard time putting it into words. Anyways, here is Chapter 20. I hope you enjoy it and please leave a review.

-SnoodlePoodle

Chapter 20

"Here." Andrea handed me a bottle of water and sat down next to me at the campfire. We were all enjoying our dinner, quietly I might add, but the voices in my head were louder than they've ever been. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I was sitting there. They were all waiting for me to explain what had happened to me.

"Lori, where's your husband?" I asked her.

"On guard." She replied.

Shane was gone too, probably patrolling the parameters. I was glad Shane wasn't around, this is difficult enough without him.

"Brenna, should we take the kids somewhere?" Andrea asked me, gestering towards Carl and Sophia. "No, they need to hear this too." I answered her. Daryl took my hand in his and nodded in approval at me.

"Glenn, Maggie, Lori, Carl and Sophia," I began. "There's something you guys need to know about what happened when Shane and I went on that run. Why I came back all beaten up." I took a deep breath and started speaking slowly, making sure to choose my words wisely. "On our way back, Shane stopped the car in the middle of nowhere, beat me, raped me," I swallowed hard. "and left me for dead."

The whole campsite was completely silent as everyone tried to process what they had just heard. Lori's eyes were wide and her mouth was open in shock.

"No way." Glenn said in disbelief.

"Would I lie about something like this, Glenn?" I asked him.

"There's more." Andrea said.

"More?" Lori asked, still in shock.

"Yes. We have reasons to believe that Shane is going to take off on his own. If he doesn't do that he's planning to kill Rick, make it look like an accident, so he can take care of you and Carl." I looked Lori right in the eyes as I spoke.

"You're crazy." Lori said, starting to get up.

"You weren't the one who found her lyin' on the road as walker bait." Daryl snapped back. "The man is psychotic."

"So what is everyone trying to say?" Lori asked back.

"It's either him, or us." Daryl replied.

"And not just Brenna and Daryl," Andrea added. "I don't want to be around him either."

"Rick needs to know about this." Maggie said, shaking her head.

"Rick is blind Maggie. Shane is his best friend. He ain't going to believe a word of any of this." I said to her, tears starting to well up in my eyes. "If we don't deal with him," I started, pointing my finger between Daryl and myself. "we won't be a part of this group anymore."

"An ultimatum." Glenn said somberly.

"Damn straight." Daryl said.

"That's not Shane." Lori said.

"Lori, we all know you're pregnant. Do you want your newborn child around a psychopathic rapist?" I asked her.

"You have no right to bring that up." She spit back. "Come on Carl, time for bed." They both got up and went to their tent.

Daryl wiped the tears that were running down my cheek away and kissed my forehead. "I love you." He whispered softly into my ear. The feeling of his hot breath on my skin calmed me down a bit. Maggie walked over and bent down in front of me. Looking me in the eyes she said, "I'm with you all the way." She hugged me tight and started walking towards the house. Glenn stood up and said, "I'm sorry Bren. I really am. You've always had my back, this time, I got yours."

"Thank you, Glenn." I said with a smile on my face.

Andrea stood up and started walking towards the RV. "Going to bed." She stated as she walked away.

That just left Daryl, Sophia and myself alone at the fire. Sophia timidly scooted her way over to me and nuzzled her way under my arm. "Brenna, I'm sorry that happened to you. You know I will go wherever you do." She said, looking up at me with her big blue eyes.

"Oh Soph." I said and started sobbing. The three of us huddled together watching as the fire started slowly dimming out.


End file.
